South Korea head coach Hong Myung-bo on Monday fired shots at Bayern Munich for their failure to protect the key national team defender Kim Min-jae.
South Korea will host Oman on Thursday and then Jordan on March 25 in the third round of the Asian qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. South Korea can grab a World Cup spot by winning both matches, but they will have to do so without Kim, who has been sidelined with left Achilles tendinitis.
Hong put Kim on his 28-man squad last Monday but cut him on Saturday because of that injury. Bayern boss Vincent Kompany had said Friday that Kim would be out for "the next couple of weeks."
Before a training session at Goyang Stadium in Goyang, just northwest of Seoul, Hong highlighted the importance of Kim -- widely considered one of the best center backs in football -- to both South Korea and the German club.
"Unfortunately, Bayern Munich did not properly protect the player to prevent injury," Hong said, referring to Kim's having played through persistent pains. "So we've ended up in a situation where we have to play these important matches without a key player."
Hong added that there had been "warning signs" regarding Kim's possible injury since last year and he and the national team staff were well aware of them.
"Just because we have important matches coming up, we couldn't keep Kim Min-jae around for them because it would run counter to our principles of protecting players," the coach said. "So we've made the decision to rest him."
Hong named FC Seoul center back Kim Ju-sung as Kim Min-jae's replacement earlier Monday.
"We had Kim Ju-sung with the national team last year and he has some experience with our system. That's why we chose him," Hong said of the 24-year-old with two caps. "He has been excellent so far in the K League 1."
Hong has another injury issue in midfield, with Hwang In-beom of Feyenoord banged up.
Hwang had missed about a month of action with an undisclosed injury before returning to action over the weekend, only to suffer a foot injury in the first half of a Dutch league match against FC Twente.
"We heard he has suffered a bruise on the top of his foot and we will have to check up on him," Hong said of Hwang, who will join the national team Tuesday. "Since it was his first match back in a long time, I didn't get the impression that he was 100 percent. But he still plays an important role on the national team. We'll have to discuss how we'll use him this month." (Yonhap)
